The Spatial Evolution of Star Clusters in NGC 628 with JWST

Fuente: arXiv

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Main Authors:	Buckner, Anne S. M., Duarte-Cabral, Ana, Adamo, Angela, Linden, Sean, Cignoni, Michele, Bajaj, Varun, Bik, Arjan, Bortolini, Giacomo, Calzetti, Daniela, Correnti, Matteo, Elmegreen, Bruce G., Elmegreen, Debra M., Vieira, Helena Faustino, Gallagher III, John S., Grasha, Kathryn, Gregg, Benjamin, Gutermuth, Rob A., Johnson, Kelsey, Krumholz, Mark, Lapeer, Drew, Messa, Matteo M., Östlin, Göran, Pedrini, Alex, Ryon, Jenna E., Smith, Linda J., Tosi, Monica
Format:	Preprint
Published:	2025
Subjects:	Astrophysics of Galaxies
Online Access:	Acceder al recurso
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_version_	1866914171743895552
author	Buckner, Anne S. M. Duarte-Cabral, Ana Adamo, Angela Linden, Sean Cignoni, Michele Bajaj, Varun Bik, Arjan Bortolini, Giacomo Calzetti, Daniela Correnti, Matteo Elmegreen, Bruce G. Elmegreen, Debra M. Vieira, Helena Faustino Gallagher III, John S. Grasha, Kathryn Gregg, Benjamin Gutermuth, Rob A. Johnson, Kelsey Krumholz, Mark Lapeer, Drew Messa, Matteo M. Östlin, Göran Pedrini, Alex Ryon, Jenna E. Smith, Linda J. Tosi, Monica
author_facet	Buckner, Anne S. M. Duarte-Cabral, Ana Adamo, Angela Linden, Sean Cignoni, Michele Bajaj, Varun Bik, Arjan Bortolini, Giacomo Calzetti, Daniela Correnti, Matteo Elmegreen, Bruce G. Elmegreen, Debra M. Vieira, Helena Faustino Gallagher III, John S. Grasha, Kathryn Gregg, Benjamin Gutermuth, Rob A. Johnson, Kelsey Krumholz, Mark Lapeer, Drew Messa, Matteo M. Östlin, Göran Pedrini, Alex Ryon, Jenna E. Smith, Linda J. Tosi, Monica
contents	We examine the spatial distribution of star clusters in NGC 628 using the statistical tool INDICATE to quantify clustering tendencies. Our sample, based on HST and JWST observations, is the most complete to date, spanning ages from 1 Myr to >100 Myr. We find cluster spatial behaviour varies with galactic position, age, and mass. Most emerging young clusters are tightly spatially associated with each other, while fully emerged clusters are in \sim1.5 times looser spatial associations, irrespective of age. Young Massive Clusters (YMCs \ge 10^4 M_{\odot}) tend to associate with lower-mass clusters but not strongly with other YMCs, implying that intense star formation regions produce a few YMCs alongside many lower-mass clusters rather than multiple YMCs together. Young concentrated clusters show a wide radial distribution in the galactic disk, which narrows with age; with concentrated clusters >100 Myr mostly residing between 2-6 kpc. This pattern may reflect either faster dispersal of isolated tight cluster spatial "structure" in a lower gas density outer disk or gradual inside-out growth, with the formation of this structure shifting outward over time. We also detect distinct spatial behaviours for clusters within 2 kpc, linked to the inner Lindblad resonance (\le1 kpc), nuclear ring (\sim0.5-1 kpc), and the start of spiral arms (\sim1.25-2 kpc), suggesting these regions exhibit strong radial motions that could hinder clusters from forming and remaining in tight concentrations. Our results highlight how spatially-resolved studies of clusters can reveal the influence of galactic dynamics on star formation and cluster evolution.
format	Preprint
id	arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2511_11115
institution	arXiv
publishDate	2025
record_format	arxiv
spellingShingle	The Spatial Evolution of Star Clusters in NGC 628 with JWST Buckner, Anne S. M. Duarte-Cabral, Ana Adamo, Angela Linden, Sean Cignoni, Michele Bajaj, Varun Bik, Arjan Bortolini, Giacomo Calzetti, Daniela Correnti, Matteo Elmegreen, Bruce G. Elmegreen, Debra M. Vieira, Helena Faustino Gallagher III, John S. Grasha, Kathryn Gregg, Benjamin Gutermuth, Rob A. Johnson, Kelsey Krumholz, Mark Lapeer, Drew Messa, Matteo M. Östlin, Göran Pedrini, Alex Ryon, Jenna E. Smith, Linda J. Tosi, Monica Astrophysics of Galaxies We examine the spatial distribution of star clusters in NGC 628 using the statistical tool INDICATE to quantify clustering tendencies. Our sample, based on HST and JWST observations, is the most complete to date, spanning ages from 1 Myr to >100 Myr. We find cluster spatial behaviour varies with galactic position, age, and mass. Most emerging young clusters are tightly spatially associated with each other, while fully emerged clusters are in \sim1.5 times looser spatial associations, irrespective of age. Young Massive Clusters (YMCs \ge 10^4 M_{\odot}) tend to associate with lower-mass clusters but not strongly with other YMCs, implying that intense star formation regions produce a few YMCs alongside many lower-mass clusters rather than multiple YMCs together. Young concentrated clusters show a wide radial distribution in the galactic disk, which narrows with age; with concentrated clusters >100 Myr mostly residing between 2-6 kpc. This pattern may reflect either faster dispersal of isolated tight cluster spatial "structure" in a lower gas density outer disk or gradual inside-out growth, with the formation of this structure shifting outward over time. We also detect distinct spatial behaviours for clusters within 2 kpc, linked to the inner Lindblad resonance (\le1 kpc), nuclear ring (\sim0.5-1 kpc), and the start of spiral arms (\sim1.25-2 kpc), suggesting these regions exhibit strong radial motions that could hinder clusters from forming and remaining in tight concentrations. Our results highlight how spatially-resolved studies of clusters can reveal the influence of galactic dynamics on star formation and cluster evolution.
title	The Spatial Evolution of Star Clusters in NGC 628 with JWST
topic	Astrophysics of Galaxies
url	https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.11115